Former Madison County employee Melinda Spence, who was arrested in April for allegedly stealing from the senior center, drew an unemployment check from the state this summer, but those benefits were terminated this month after Madison County commissioners appealed to the Department of Labor.

Spence, who began working as Madison County’s deputy clerk in April 2001, was charged by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation April 29 with one count of felony theft by taking for allegedly stealing roughly $1,700 from the senior center. Documents at the Madison County Sheriff’s Office show that Spence was booked into the county jail, then released on a $2,250 property bond posted by Catherine Nash, Danielsville, wife of county commission chairman Wesley Nash.

After the deputy clerk resigned from her position, she filed for unemployment with the Georgia Department of Labor. Those insurance benefits were awarded on May 11.

County attorney Mike Pruett explained that at the time Spence applied for benefits, the human resources position was vacant.

“And that (the vacancy) caused some delay in responding to Ms. Spence’s filing,” said Pruett. “Nonetheless, the county clerk did, by telephone, inform the Department of Labor of the circumstances, i.e., that Ms. Spence voluntarily resigned in lieu of termination after she was arrested. Somehow that information did not make it into the department’s file, and benefits were erroneously granted.”

Pruett filed a written appeal to the department, which included a sworn affidavit from the county clerk verifying his telephone conversation.

County clerk Morris Fortson, Spence’s supervisor, said he informed the DOL representative that Spence resigned after facing a criminal theft charge.

“That’s the first thing I told her (the DOL representative) that she had been arrested for stealing a deposit,” said Fortson. “It was an unfortunate situation, but that (the theft charge) is why she’s not employed.”

Fortson said the DOL representative said Spence cited a conflict with management when seeking benefits.

“She had told them she had problems with a manager,” said Fortson. “And I told them I didn’t know anything about that.”

Fortson said the DOL later sent the county two notices, one saying Spence was awarded benefits, another saying she was disqualified.

“I called them and asked which one was right and they sent another notice saying she the benefits were allowed,” he said. “I don’t know how they did that.”

Sam Hall, director of communications for the Georgia Department of Communications, said that due to confidentiality laws, the DOL is not allowed to comment on specific unemployment cases.

“We can’t discuss individual unemployment cases,” said Hall, adding that he can’t even confirm or deny whether a person is getting benefits.

However, Hall said that people seeking unemployment benefits must meet three criteria: 1.) they lost their job through no fault of their own; 2.) they must be actively seeking employment; 3.) they must be physically and mentally capable of receiving a job.

A hearing on Spence’s unemployment benefits was held Sept. 4 and the DOL faxed its decision to the county government Tuesday, with the department ruling in favor of the county. Fortson provided The Journal with a copy of that two-page letter from the DOL Tuesday.

“The employer met the burden of proof and offered sufficient testimony and evidence to support the claimant’s disqualification for unemployment benefits,” wrote DOL hearing officer Sandra Ward. “The claimant admitted to taking the missing deposit funds. Therefore, disqualification is required.”

Ward wrote that state law “provides for disqualification for intentional conduct resulting in the employee being discharged for theft of property, goods, or money valued at over $100, sabotage or embezzlement.”

The DOL decided on June 5 to grant unemployment benefits to Spence, which were retroactively awarded to May 11. But the September ruling stripped Spence of those benefits back to May 11.

“This disqualification shall continue until the claimant obtains subsequent employment and earns insured wages equal to at least 16 times their weekly benefit amount, an amount of $5,120,” wrote Ward.

The letter does not directly state how much Spence received in unemployment. But “16 times their weekly benefit amount, an amount of $5,120,” equals $320 a week.

Denise Beckwith, DOL supervisor for unemployment insurance policy and procedures, issued a separate letter to Fortson stating that there will be “no charge to your (the county’s) employer tax account for any benefits paid to Ms. Spence.”

“She did not appeal this decision and will be required to repay, to the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, all benefits she received,” wrote Beckwith.

Beckwith said the DOL was not informed of Spence’s arrest by the county human resources officer, whom she does not identify in the letter. Connie Riley resigned from her position as human resources director April 21, several days before Spence’s arrest.

“This decision was made, in part, from information provided to our claims examiner by a representative of Madison County’s human resources department,” wrote Beckwith. “The HR representative said that Ms. Spence was a ‘good employee,’ but there were some issues involving a co-worker, and that the county had no objection to her receiving unemployment insurance benefits. The HR representative also said there were other ‘things’ that happened, but they did not want to provide us with any details about it.”

While Spence allegedly stole $1,700 from the senior center, a far greater sum has been stolen in the BOC office. The GBI is conducting an investigation into the theft of at least $80,000 from the commissioners’ office. No charges had been filed in that case as of press time.

“We are close to an arrest but still trying to finalize a few other things first,” said GBI agent Jim Fullington Tuesday.

How could this happen? The excuse that Madison County did not have a HR clerk in place is a crock of ****. Do people in this county do what they want to just because they may or may not have a supervisor in charge?
Isn't Morris Fortson over the HR department,accounting,billing,etc? So, why did he allow the paperwork to go thru? Why wasn't Wesley Nash notified of the request? He is after-all our chairman, until January, did he not know of the un-employment attempt?
I think something smells "fishy".......
This county needs a total make-over in staff so someone can take some ACCOUNTABILITY and stop shifting the blame to the weakest link.
I hope that Anthony Dove will bring honesty, accountability and intregrity into our county government because we need it.

I heard that Morris Fortson DID know and told her it was ok and that he would ignore the notice from the Department of Labor. Sounds like now he's tryin to cover his a** which doesn't surprise me! If they would get rid of him all of the county's problems would be solved! They really need to check this man's history with the County and find out what all was "swept Under the rug" when he was in total control! Wake up poeple, here is your problem, it just trickled down!

The claim that this happened because the HR position was vacant is another drop the ball and pass the buck. That position was vacated in April. What else has fallen thru the cracks in the last 5 months?

Why didn't the dept. head/supervisor, Morris Fortson or HR Director, Donna Sisk, take on those responsibilities?
Did Dir. Sisk fail to direct? Did Mr. Fortson fail to oversee?
ALL HR STAFF IN CHARGE should be reprimanded (for real this time) and held accountable for failing to do their job. The HR employee that told the DOL that "the county had no objection to her receiving unemployment" should be FIRED.
That was another form of theft.
As for Chairman, Wesley Nash not knowing about things, it was his wife that posted the property bond for Ms. Spence.

You think, something smells "fishy"...
I think, birds of a feather...

It was stated that there will be “no charge to your (the county’s) employer tax account for any benefits paid to Ms. Spence.”
Hopefully, the BOC will double check this to ensure that to be the case.
It's about time the members of the BOC/office start being held accountable and become responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Read the article. Her unemployment claim has been denied and we aren't being charged a penny. She will have to pay back any benefits she received to the state.

The only failure here was that the woman didn't learn enough from getting caught stealing from the senior center and she immediately decided to steal from the state of GA as well. And she got caught. Again. Clearly she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Her unemployment claim was approved by the county H.R. department, then denied by the county commissioners on appeal.(Kudos to them)
How can she pay anything back when she may be in jail. It seems to me that if she had any money she would not have taken the original amount in the first place.
When will people learn. So sad.

True, but I wondered whom this was (The HR representative said that Ms. Spence was a ‘good employee,’ but there were some issues involving a co-worker, and that the county had no objection to her receiving unemployment insurance benefits). Who was the co- worker she was having trouble with. COuld it be that she was having trouble with her co-workers because she was stealing. Was Morris Fortson not the person in charge? I think the county should go after him for this.

We all know it was probably Morris who lied for her.I do not believe that he spoke with someone at the DOL on the phone trying to get this reversed.The DOL must have everything in writing on letterhead. Morris, you are just trying to cover your own ***. Thanks to the BOC we got this fixed & she won't get unemployment benefits.Sure, it did not cost Madison County any funds, however, it could have if the BOC did not step in. Seems like we have some type of triangle going on with Morris, Ms.Spence & Wesley (his wife signing her bond).

I read the article, why don't you? She has been receiving a unemployment check since May under false pretenses.
If you do not believe me, ask for a open records request.
The commissioners found out about this situation and it blew up, as it should have.
She probably received a check up to last week if the truth is known....check it out!

Correct. You read the article. She has been receiving a check. Perhaps you should READ the article again. Her fraudulent unemployment claim is not costing Madison County taxpayers one cent.

Here, READ this quote from the article:
Denise Beckwith, DOL supervisor for unemployment insurance policy and procedures, issued a separate letter to Fortson stating that there will be “NO CHARGE to your (the county’s) employer tax account for any benefits paid to Ms. Spence.”

“She did not appeal this decision and will be required to repay, to the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, all benefits she received,” wrote Beckwith.

Let's not forget who bailed her out of jail after her arrest. That would be Ms. Nash...the one and only Wesley Nash's wife. How does that look? Let's use our heads here for a second. She stole from our county right out from under everyone. Once it came out and she was arrested she was bailed out pretty much by the Chairman himself. Why is what I want answered...I can't understand why he would allow this to happen. SHE STOLE FROM THE COUNTY...

Why would Ms. Sisk name evern be brought up in this
matter? She was not working with the county at that time.
So we know it was not her that talked to the DOL, so it
would have been only one other person that was in charge
of HR during that time. Does the DOL not know who they
talked to?

I know a lot of the county employees and there are a lot
of good people that work for the county. Know one ever
would have thought that Ms. Spence would have done what
she did. You can't judge all employees by what to
people have done. The county needs to have a better way
of check and balance. We can't keep this up.

*LOL* Hey, you morons elected the people who hired these crooks, so if you want to know who's to blame, go look in the mirror. Its YOU!

And you are either too arrogant admit it, or too stupid to know it.

You've sat on your collective butts and done nothing for years while your county government has gone to the dogs...all because you didn't bother to think for yourselves or check into the false promises (because they were telling you what you WANTED to hear) or look into the backgrounds of the losers that you've voted into office, who then were not only corrupt themselves, but hired corrupt employees, and allowed the bad work environment to corrupt normally honest people.

You are pathetic, trying to blame the people YOU put in there, when if YOU had done the right thing to start with, this would never have happened.

If you are without sin, cast your stones. Run for office yourself and see if YOU do any better.

What a bunch of whiners and losers. You've gotten exactly what you deserve.